The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of farmers’ unions agitating against the new agricultural laws, has called for protests outside district magistrate offices in Uttar Pradesh between 10 am and 1 pm across the country on Monday, reported News18.
This came after eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district as violence broke out during a protest against the agricultural laws on Sunday.
The Bhartiya Kisan Union said that a vehicle belonging to a minister’s convoy had run over a group of protestors. It alleged that the vehicle belonged to the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra.
However, Mishra claimed that the farmers pelted stones at the vehicle, which led to the driver losing control and ramming into the farmers. He said the driver died in the accident.
Farmers’ leader Darshan Pal Singh and Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav demanded an inquiry into the incident by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.
“We demand that minister of state for home Mishra be immediately dismissed from his post,” said Singh. “A case under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC should be registered against the minister’s son and other goons.”
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Sunday called the incident “unfortunate” and said that his government will taker strict action against the culprits, reported the Hindustan Times.
‘Inhumane massacre’: Politicians condemn incident
Several politicians condemned the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked how much the Bharatiya Janata Party hated farmers that it would shoot and trample them with a car if they raised their voices.
“This is a country of farmers, not a fiefdom of BJP’s brutal ideology,” Vadra tweeted. “Kisan Satyagraha [peaceful farmers’ protest] will be strengthened and the voice of the farmer will be louder,” she tweeted.
Vadra visited the district with party leader Deepinder Singh Hooda on Sunday night but the police allegedly stopped them from entering. The Congress later tweeted that she had been detained and was being taken from Hargaon town to Sitapur Police Line. Hooda was also detained, reported PTI.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that a person who remained silent after witnessing this “inhumane massacre” was already dead.
“But we will not let this sacrifice go in vain – Kisan Satyagraha Zindabad,” he tweeted.
The party’s leader Navjot Singh Sidhu demanded that Mishra’s son be booked for murder and immediately arrested for the “barbaric act”.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal also demanded action against the minister’s son.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ahkhilesh Yadav demanded immediate care for farmer leader Tejendra Singh Virk, who was among those injured in the incident. Yadav also called for Adityanath’s resignation.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was “violent and unjust” to crush the protesting farmers with a car.
“I am with the farmer brothers in this hour of grief,” Kejriwal tweeted. “The culprits who have committed such a heinous crime should be punished severely.”
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi called the incident shocking. “No one can escape the law,” he tweeted. “The police should immediately arrest the culprits and the law should take its course.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that a delegation of five Trinamool Congress leaders will visit the families of the deceased on Monday. “Our farmers will always have our unconditional support,” she tweeted.
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